The present invention generally relates to portable illumination devices. Portable illumination devices have seen a wide variety of implementations. One common example of which is a flashlight. Other examples are the lights and/or lasers used to provide target acquisition and aiming assistance for firearms. It is well-understood that it is desirous to provide a means to control the operation of the light in a non-continuous manner. For example, Parsons and Reeves disclose a system to control when a flashlight will operate in a continuous versus intermittent manner. Toole et al. disclose a means to momentarily operate an aiming laser for a firearm by inclusion of a momentary switch in the handgrip portion of the weapon.
A chief disadvantage of these examples is that in certain stressful situations, a person may have difficulty operating the momentary switches such systems employ. For example, if a homeowner were investigating an unusual noise in their home, the stressfulness of the situation may cause their fingers or hand to tremble. This would result in unpredictable activation of the light emitter when using momentary switches. It is not advisable in some situations to operate the light emitter in continuous mode. If there were an intruder present, operation of the device in a continuous manner could reveal the location of the homeowner to the intruder, which presents an unsafe condition.
A further disadvantage of the presented examples, in each case, the operator must maintain their grip in the exact location of the momentary switch. In the case of the device disclosed by Toole et al., the switch location may hinder use of the illumination switch in an ambidextrous fashion. The flashlight of Parsons and Reeves could not be used in the intermittent mode if the flashlight needed to be gripped away from the area of the switch. Also, if the operator were to have a condition resulting in reduced dexterity, operation of momentary switches may be difficult.